Government seeking feedback on NEW draft standard contracts

The NSW Government is seeking feedback on a draft standard contract form to be used by FACS and Health when procuring services from the community sector. 

This is a very welcome development.  In our consultations with the Sector the concept of a standardised contract that would be used by all government agencies has been identified as a positive step towards reducing red tape.

One of the recommendations of the Fair Deal for our Community Services campaign included a standardised contract based on the principles of the 2009 Whitlam Institute’s paper A question of balance that procure services from the Community Sector.  The paper outlines principles that provide the basis for fair, reasonable and transparent contracts, and contract management. 

The proposed standardised contract and funding schedule was originally released to the Social Innovation Council.  This provided NCOSS and FONGA the opportunity to hold a Fair Deal Forum specifically on the proposed documents. 

The group welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback and agreed that in general these are better documents in their draft form than similar documents from other states.  The plain English drafting, the format itself and the fact that advocacy was acknowledged and accepted as legitimate was valued.

NCOSS pulled together the feedback into a submission which can be accessed here: Download the submission

The NSW Government  is now seeking  broader feedback from the sector as a whole.  The draft NSW Human Services Agreement, the Funding and Service Schedule and a guide to the draft agreement and schedule can be accessed on the ProcurePoint website. 

Email feedback to nswbuy@finance.nsw.gov.au before COB 4 October 2016.